Flash Review – Idol Threat, by Bryce Allen

And now for something completely different. I’m a fan of the weird, and the strange, most certainly the different, but the Bizarre (with a capital B) is a world and a genre I don’t tend to dabble too much in. And from page one, Bryce Allen’s off-the-wall “anti-thriller” throws the reader head first down the weird and winding well of the deeply Bizarre. It’s not for everyone, that much is for certain. To be entirely honest, I found myself struggling sometimes with the leaps of logic, but it’s a rewarding experience in the end. And that’s, I think, the whole point. The experience, if not the actual story. It’s a curious kind of adventure told at a breakneck pace, using a mind-bending style of narrative that plays with the concept of just what a narrative is. And, at times, what a story even is.

Idol Threat is an impressive, if sometimes confounding, accomplishment. Not for everyone, not for the faint of heart, but something refreshingly different. It holds a dark and twisted mirror up to modern conceits, and bashes a whole handful of genres over the head. It’s a wild, occasionally confusing ride. It will leave you wondering, but ultimately, it is an entertaining read.